by Janie Crouch
2
An hour later, Lexi was definitely not having fun.
Evidently, she wasn’t the only one who’d picked this bar because the booths gave a semblance of privacy. Vodka Tonic next to her, actual name Caleb, had evidently chosen it for the same reason.
They were on their third round of drinks—at least he was, she’d been nursing or dumping hers as often as possible—and he’d become more handsy as the minutes passed. And his wallet was nowhere nearer to her than it had been when she’d joined him in the booth.
His cologne wasn’t nearly as bad as his conversational skills. She already knew that his watch cost more than a thousand dollars—something that evidently impressed most women, or so he said. She knew that he worked with a bunch of pricks—again his words—at an insurance sales office in Idaho Falls, and that said pricks couldn’t open a door without his help. She knew this hotel was kind of crappy and that he would’ve been driving a BMW now if his two ex-wives weren’t demanding such unreasonable alimony.
She should be thankful that Caleb was so busy talking about himself that he hadn’t asked a single question about her. That’s what she needed.
But every second she spent with him pushed her closer to releasing the scream building inside of her.
This shouldn’t be so hard for her. She was acting, it was a role, but every time he touched her, her skin crawled. Every laugh that came out of her mouth was so obviously fake, she couldn’t believe Caleb hadn’t caught on.
When he slid his hand under her skirt—again, the third time in five minutes—she knew this wasn’t going to work. She might actually be sick.
And she was no closer to achieving her goal than she’d been when she’d first sat down with him. Even though Caleb liked to talk about his money, he kept a very tight fist on his wallet.
He smiled at her, unperturbed by the fact that she’d forcibly removed his hand from her thigh. “How about I get us one more round, and then we take this upstairs to my hotel room where you can pay me back for all the drinks I’ve bought you tonight.”
She stared as he gave her a wink as if he hadn’t just implied she was a prostitute.
There had to be another way to get to Oak Creek. Maybe she could ditch her car for a few days and hitchhike. Come back for it once she had a little bit of cash. It wasn’t optimal but—
A shudder ran through her as Caleb’s hand ran so far up her thigh his fingers actually touched her underwear this time. She jerked back.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to work.
“You know what?” She grabbed his hand and yanked it back out from under her skirt. “I had a good time, Caleb. But I’ve got to go.”
He laughed and inched closer. “Don’t play hard to get. We’re finally getting to the fun part. I know you don’t want to leave now.”
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to. I just remembered I have a . . . thing.” She slid away from him until she was at the edge of the booth. “Thanks for the drinks.” That she hadn’t drunk. “And for the . . . company.”
Caleb didn’t look like he planned to give up this argument easily. Lexi used what weapons she had at her disposal and knocked over one of the glasses on the table straight into Caleb’s lap.
“Fuck! The hell?”
As he frantically wiped at his crotch, she slid the rest of the way out of the booth and made her escape. Shit. If Caleb followed and made a scene, she wouldn’t make it out of the bar and across the lobby without drawing way too much attention to herself.
She turned to the right instead, toward the marked patio doors connected to the side of the bar. It was dark out here, probably for use during the summer, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was empty. She could hide here until Caleb left.
She breathed in deep gulps of the night air, welcoming the October chill. At least there were no Vodka Tonic hands on her here.
She walked over and leaned on the banister railing. She couldn’t see much in the darkness, but she could breathe the cold air. She welcomed the cold. Welcomed the isolation. It matched what she felt on the inside: frozen and alone.
This weather was so much different than California where she’d spent most of her life. It was more similar to western North Carolina, which she’d called home for the past five years.
She’d convinced herself she hated it there. But it hadn’t been the place she hated. It had been her own life.
“I should’ve known you were playing me, you little bitch.”
Lexi spun at Caleb’s voice behind her. Shit. In trying to avoid a confrontation, she’d put herself in actual danger. Caleb was just drunk enough to be a problem.
She shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. I really do have somewhere I need to—”
She hissed as he reached over, grabbed her upper arms, and yanked her forward. “Don’t lie to me. You bitches are all the same. Act like you’re interested then refuse to make good on what you promise.”
Lexi didn’t pull away. She needed to talk him down from this if she could. If she had to scream, that was definitely going to draw attention she didn’t want.
“Caleb, I’m sorry if you thought I was promising you anything. I was just looking for someone fun to talk to.”
“I’m sick of all of you thinking you can lead us on. You’re going to give me what I want. What you promised.” His fingers dug in to the skin of her arms.
She forced herself to stay calm. “What did I promise you? You bought me a couple of drinks. Do you want me to pay it back?” Not that she had the money to do that. “I thought we were both just spending time with each other.”
He yanked her against him. He stank of alcohol and sweat and that god-awful cologne. “We had an understanding. Don’t act like we didn’t have an understanding. You’re all the same.”
This had nothing to do with her. Whatever he was talking about now was some sort of residual issue with some other woman. But that didn’t help Lexi now. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, but she also wasn’t going to stay here and be sexually assaulted.
“You need to let go of me, Caleb.” She’d never learned any self-defense. She’d had her own security team, so she hadn’t needed to. But she knew how to scream her head off. She looked him dead in the eye. “Back off.”
She knew she was in trouble when he sneered. Before she could let out a yell, he spun her around and pushed her up against the wall, his hand covering her mouth and his body pressed up against hers.
“You know this is what you really want.” His whisper was more terrifying than his volume had been.
Lexi pushed back against him, twisting, yelling from behind his hand, not caring who heard them now.
But he used his body weight to hold her there, grinding against her. She couldn’t get a sound out. Couldn’t breathe. “We can have a good time here if you don’t want to go upstairs.”
Oh God, she was going to be sick.
“I think the lady has made it abundantly clear she’s not interested in spending any more time with you.”
Both she and Caleb stiffened at the deep, masculine voice coming from the darkness.
“Stay out of it, buddy. My friend and I are just having a little fun.” Caleb’s hand tightened on her mouth.
Please don’t believe him. Please don’t believe him.
“Given you have your hand over her face and her body pressed up against a wall, I’m going to argue that maybe your friend isn’t having quite as much fun as you are.” The man stepped closer. “You need to let her go, right fucking now. Then if she tells me she wants to be here with you, I’ll be on my way.”
“Whatever, man. This bitch isn’t worth the trouble. None of them are.”
Lexi sagged, sucking in air as Caleb released her. He turned and walked back into the bar without another word.
She took a couple more deep breaths, then turned to face her rescuer.
“Are you okay? Do I need to get you any medical assistance?” The man stepped a little further into the light, and
she gasped. The guy from across the bar. The warrior.
He shifted, moving so his face was in the beam of light from the door. Brown. His eyes were a deep, chocolate brown.
She took a step closer, rubbing her hands together to stop them from shaking. “No, he was drunk and an asshole, but I’m not hurt.”
“If you want to press charges, I’m sure we can find out who he is. He’s probably a guest here and paid for his tab with a credit card. I’m glad you’re not hurt, but that was attempted assault, and you can press charges.”
Of course, he was a standup guy who wanted to help. Hadn’t that been the first thing she noticed about him? His awareness?
Just the sound of his voice was soothing. It poured over her like warm water. Calmed her frayed nerves.
“No, I really don’t want to get the authorities involved. Like I said, he was a drunk asshole, and I made a mistake by hanging out with him at all. I’m fine.”
But she was still shaking. The cold that hadn’t bothered her at all when she’d first stepped out here now seemed almost unbearable.
But he noticed. Of course, he noticed. “Do you want to go back inside where it’s warmer?”
“No, I need a few minutes to pull myself together. But honestly, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to stay out here and babysit me.”
“Actually, I’m an excellent babysitter.” He smiled and leaned back against the railing. “I used to watch my younger siblings all the time. My parents made me take a class when I was thirteen, so I know all the babysitting basics—changing a diaper on a doll and everything. Never mind that I was the only boy in the class and would’ve much rather been out riding my bike.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of the thirteen-year-old version of this gruff, alpha-hero man changing the diaper on a doll. “I’m sure you turned the situation around to your advantage.”
His smile grew wider. “I might have gotten Christina Hemsworth’s phone number out of it.” He shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her. “Here. If you don’t want to go inside, at least don’t freeze.”
She shouldn’t take it. She should smile, make a joke about babysitting, walk back inside, avoid Caleb, and get out of here. She was still no closer to getting the gas and car-repair money she needed, so she was going to have to come up with a new plan.
But she took the jacket he held out. She didn’t deceive herself into thinking she would ever be able to have this man, but maybe she could have his warmth for a minute.
She slid her arms through the sleeves and let out a sigh, melting into the warmth. She tried not to be obvious as she breathed in the scent that surrounded her. No cloying aftershave, just the scent of the man himself, earthy and woodsy.
She knew it was ridiculous, but the scent that surrounded her smelled strong and capable. Safe. She closed her eyes and breathed it in. If only that was all it took to change her situation.
“Hey, are you sure you’re doing okay? It’s certainly understandable to be shaken up.”
“Yeah, I’m all right. I just . . .”
The tears started falling before she was aware they were close to the surface. She wanted to explain that this had less to do with the past five minutes with Caleb and much more to do with everything that had led up to this point. How she’d screwed up her life and brought on her own demise.
But she didn’t have to say anything. And when he opened his arms and stepped toward her—slowly, respectfully, making sure it was what she wanted, the very opposite of Caleb’s behavior—there was no way she could stop herself from moving closer to his strength.
He didn’t ask her questions, didn’t offer any false words of encouragement. He just held her, strong, steady.
She let the tears out but didn’t sob. She’d learned quite a while ago to cry silently. But it felt so good not to be alone. Just for these few minutes to have someone to lean on, even if it wasn’t permanent. Even if he wasn’t hers.
She wasn’t sure how long he held her there in the cold Wyoming night. Much longer than she had the right to expect. But she was too greedy, too emotionally needy in this moment to pull away.
But finally, she forced herself to.
If she didn’t leave now, she was going to end up asking him for help. He’d want to know why, to dig deeper. And if he found out the truth, any concern or interest she’d seen in those big brown eyes would disappear.
She forced herself to step back. “I guess I did need a babysitter. Christina Hemsworth and I are lucky you took that class.”
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face until she was forced to look him in the eye. “What can I do to help?”
Had she ever wanted to tell her side of the story more? All of it, from beginning to end, and pray that maybe this one man might be different from everyone else and consider believing her. Defending her. Protecting her.
But she couldn’t take the chance. She’d risked it all to get to this point, and now she needed to get out of here and find some way to make it through these last few miles to her future. A future that did not include this man.
“I’m fine. It’s been a rough couple of days, and asshole Caleb didn’t help.” She patted the man on his chest, forcing her fingers not to dawdle there like they wanted. Forced herself not to ask his name. She was better off not knowing. “I should give back your jacket and head on out.”
She stuffed her hands in the jacket pockets to keep from touching him again and felt it.
His wallet.
Why? Why did it have to be the one man who’d actually been kind to her? Treated her with respect? Why couldn’t it have been Caleb whose wallet had jumped into her hand?
But she would have to be an absolute fool to pass up this opportunity. Regret pooled in her belly again, bitter and sour.
“I don’t want to leave you alone if you’re not sure you’ll be all right,” he said, those brown eyes so intense. “I understand if you don’t want to press charges against Caleb, but are you sure there’s no one I can call for you? Are you staying at the hotel? I know for a fact that Reddington City has counselors you can talk to free of charge if you need to. I’m happy to help facilitate that.”
She was so going to hell. If not for what she’d done before, which nearly everyone agreed was enough for a monogrammed seat in Hades, then definitely for what she was about to do now.
“No,” she whispered. “Really, I’ll be fine. I just need a few more minutes out here to pull myself together. I really kind of love the Wyoming night air.”
He smiled. Holy hell, everything about his face changed with that smile, became more gentle, more approachable. And it was obviously so sincere.
God, she wanted to trace her fingernails down that strong jaw.
“There’s nothing in the world quite like Wyoming nights.”
“You’re from here?”
He gave her a half grin. “My whole life.”
There was obviously more to that story, but she’d let him have his secret since she had a million of her own.
“Well, I like what you’ve done with the place.” She started to slip off the jacket to hand it back to him, her fist already around his wallet. It was going to be tricky keeping it out of his sight, but she would manage.
He stopped her, pulling the collar of his coat back around her shoulders. “You wear it. I have a lot more body mass to withstand the cold than you do. Is your jacket up in your room?”
“No, I’m not staying here. I just stopped to get a drink before heading out of town.” An idea came to her even as she hated herself for coming up with it. “I left my jacket in the booth inside. I was in such a hurry to get away from Caleb that I ran out without it.”
Not true. Well, partially true. She didn’t have a jacket, but she had been in a hurry to get away from Caleb.
“Why don’t I go back in there and grab it for you?”
She closed her eyes, not at all proud of the fact that he’d taken the bait she’d laid out for him. “That w
ould be great. I’m sure Caleb is gone, but I really don’t want to take a chance on running into him.”
The man’s face hardened. He obviously wouldn’t mind running into Caleb. “What color is it?”
“Dark gray.” She did have a jacket like that, but it was in the back seat of her car, not in the booth. “Cream-colored collar and cuffs.”
He nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be right here.”
He’d barely been out of sight five seconds before she had the wallet in her hand and was looking through it for cash.
Her stomach curdled further as she pulled the bills out, not stopping to count them. It was at least a couple of hundred dollars. He had credit cards and even a library card in there too, but that wouldn’t help her.
She couldn’t resist looking at his driver’s license. It had a local address here in Reddington City.
Gavin Zimmerman.
She trailed her fingers across the picture. “I really wish we could’ve met under different circumstances, Gavin Zimmerman. In a different life.”
She sighed, then stuffed his credit cards and ID back into his pocket, keeping the wallet and cash. She slipped the jacket off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground, ignoring the chill that surrounded her instantly.
She balled her fist around the cash and, without looking back, hopped awkwardly over the railing and into the dark, cold Wyoming night.
3
“If you keep staying in here and working all hours of the day and night, they’re eventually going to elect you sheriff for real, you know.”
Gavin grinned and looked up from his computer at Zac Mackay standing in the doorway of his office. “Would you vote for me?”
Zac leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “Hell, no. We need you too much at Linear Tactical. Plus, remember all the times you told me how you were never running for any sort of public office?”
Gavin leaned back in his chair, smile falling a little. “Reminds me too much of dear old Dad. I’ve got neither the temperament nor the stomach for politics.”
Gavin’s dad, Ronald Zimmerman, had been the governor of Wyoming for the past six years and in the state’s legislature before that. Gavin knew exactly what was involved with politics and wanted nothing to do with it.